History of Struggle at the San Juan Island Farmers’ Market

Abstract:

Farmers’ markets are exploding in numbers all over the country in recent years due to an
increased demand to reclaim the right to know who grows food and what it contains.
While many studies exist to address this growing trend in farmers’ markets, most
research centers on how consumer demographics and behaviors limit the success or
failure of a market. This study fills in for the lack of focus on farmers and the detailed
process of how they drive a farmers’ market into being. Through semi-structured
interviews with 14 farmers in the San Juan county region, this study seeks to address the
challenges that occur during the establishment of a farmers’ market. Analysis of these
interviews yields many varied answers to these two questions: 1) what is the purpose of a
farmers’ market according to farmers and 2) what obstacles do farmers face when
establishing a market? The history these farmers tell helps understand how a farmers’
market can become a thriving infrastructure for small farmers in a rural town. This case
study will contribute to a body of research that analyzes market histories to create better
models for future market communities.